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The waiting game: Coaches handle balancing act, while players await their next games

The calm usually comes before the storm, but this week, it has been after.

With the recent weather delays and time between high school games, matches and meets, many athletes have found themselves benched for the moment.

That shouldn't be for long though. By next week, players may see a slew of competition to make up for time lost during this entire week.

Some coaches already had a plan for their athletes during the breaks given due to winter weather.

N-C girl's basketball coach Jonathan Tharpe said he feels these breaks as a beneficial opportunity for his team.

"I think it is to the advantage of the more experienced teams because those players know what they need to do to prepare for those types of games," Tharpe said. "As a coach, it's more difficult because you want your players to get into the flow of a game, but you also know that you need to keep your legs fresh for the next game."

The potential for games on back-to-back nights and games being played on three out of four nights is likely for next week.

St. Stephens girls' basketball coach Todd Davis, whose team last played on Saturday, believes this shouldn't affect his players too much.

"I feel that at this age, it has little effect, except for energy at times, depending on who you are playing," Davis said. "That is where I, as a coach, must balance out my substitution procedure in order to conserve legs for the next game and not kill the energy that you will need the following night."

Tharpe says not only does he team get together for practices, but they also try to have some team building exercises.

"We do team bonding like movies, bowling, go out to eat, have Wii parties or just hang out," Tharpe said. "I think it is a balancing act to ensure that your team keeps improving during breaks and gives them momentum going into conference play or those games when you come back from break."